Thursday, March 3, 2016

AUS Final Schedule Announced, UNB/X Playoff History

The AUS has announced the full schedule for the upcoming best 2-of-3 AUS Final between the St. FX X-Men and UNB Varsity Reds. We already knew that game 1 was taking place Monday night at the AUC, but we now know game 2 will be held Wednesday in Antigonish and game 3, if necessary, will be back in Fredericton on Friday, March 11th. All games are scheduled for 7PM and will be streamed live at AUStv.ca.

The V-Reds and X-Men are certainly no stranger to one another at this time of the year. This will mark the 9th playoff series between the two teams since Gardiner MacDougall took over as head coach in, the most common playoff opponent for the V-Reds during that span (Acadia is next with 6 series) 2000-2001.

This will be the 9th time the two teams have met in the playoffs
since 2000-2001, the most common playoff opponent for the V-Reds during
that span. UNB has gone 17-12 (13-3 at home, 4-9 on road) in winning 6
out of the previous 8 series. 7 of those game have gone into overtime.

Here is the breakdown:

2000-2001: Lost 2 game to 1 in semi-finals2002-2003: Won 3 game to 1 in finals2004-2005: Won 2 games to 0 in quarter-finals2005-2006: Won 2 games to 1 in quarter-finals2006-2007: Won 3 games to 1 in semi-finals
2009-2010: Lost 3 games to 0 in semi-finals2010-2011: Won 3 games to 2 in finals2014-2015: Won 3 games to 2 in semi-finals - This is the 3rd time the two have faced in the finals with UNB winning both of the previous instances (2003 and 2011).

- The last two series have gone the distance, with Kyle Bailey's overtime goal in game 5 clinching an AUS Championship on home ice in 2011 and the V-Reds blowing a 2-0 series lead before recovering to win game 5 in last year's semi-finals.

- Each of the last 4 series were best 3-of-5 affairs. This is the first best 2-of-3 meeting since 2006.

- Of course, both teams have already clinched berths in the University Cup. However, the winner will receive a higher seed at the University Cup and, presumably, the easier path to the final. If UNB's wins they will almost certainly enter the tournament as the #1 seed. If they lose they cannot be ranked any higher than 5th,

- Tickets for game 1 are now on sale, both online and at the AUC box office. Lets pack the rink and show why the Varsity Reds have the best fans in the country.